Censor and sensibility

    The issue of sex and the Internet raises many questions. Davey Winder, author of a new book, reckons that if it's thrills we're after cybersex may prove something of a disappointment. Even so, the prospect of an onslaught of dirty JPEGs is enough to get the Mary Whitehouse mob hot under the collar.

    There is no point denying it, the Internet is home to a lot of sexually explicit material. While this may well be just a tiny fraction of the Net's diverse content, it is naturally the focus of a lot of attention from users, abusers and those who know a good story when they see one. The media have latched on to the distribution of pornography via the Internet as being indicative of all that is wrong with society today. The Net is the embodiment of the evils of technology, a world without control, virtual streets down which our children are not safe to walk alone.

    What a load of tosh! I can't remember anyone condemning the telephone because a few sad individuals use it to make obscene calls. I don't recall the same media hysteria about video recorders, yet blue movies have helped to drive that technology forward.

    The Internet is relatively new, it is hyped to death and any angle that helps to sell a story is going to be seized on by the tabloid hacks. But the truth is different.